Are we too much into hero worshipping?

By: Subhadeep Bhattacharjee

If hero worship needed an example there couldn't have been a better one that the reaction to the death of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy in an unfortunate helicopter crash. The entire state seemed to shut down with as many as 67 people loosing their lives of which 30 odd suffered from cardiac arrest and the rest committing suicide. The question that arises is are we too much into hero worshipping?

This is not the first time India has seen this and unfortunately it won't be even the last time. The kind of fan following that politicians and film stars have down south cannot draw parallels with any other part of the country. Be it with the death of MGR in Tamil Nadu or that of Dr. Rajkumar in Karnataka there were ugly follow up events. Their deaths were marked by violence and protests with many innocent people loosing their lives.

If larger than life hero worshipping leads to this such hero worshipping should not be appreciated. What happens to the families of the fans and followers who have committed suicide in the heat to the moment. They grieved for somebody's death and took their own lives how who grieves for theirs. Fans might feel grieved at the loss of their heroes buy that is no justification to commit suicide or resort to violence as has happened in some cases in the past.

We might assume that most of these celebrities are larger than life but that however isn't the case. When a star dies people need to mourn his death in better manners than committing suicide or resorting to violence. Aren't our heroes human beings after all? Why can't we show more maturity when it comes to dealing these tragedies? If only we were a little logical in our thoughts 67 odd lives wouldn't have been lost after the death of YSR